u/PlanktonFew2505

Personally, I think he had a beta copy. Surely someone as based and sexy as Sernando wouldn't try to fake or mislead people like that.

Over the years, I've grown to appreciate VC more and more, to the point where I think I might eventually rank it above IV. To me, it's one of the most well designed Rockstar games out there and one of the best examples of what a sequel should be. Rather than trying to reinvent everything, it took the foundation established by GTA 3 and refined it as much as possible without becoming overly ambitious or bloated.

What makes VC stand out is how focused it feels. Every major addition, properties, demolition derby, helicopters and planes, a voiced protagonist, expanded weapon variety, feels like a meaningful enhancement to the GTA formula rather than a gimmick or novelty. The game's central goal is simple, become the biggest kingpin in Vice City. Nearly everything you do, whether it's story missions or open world side activities, contributes to that fantasy. Tommy Vercetti is also one the best GTA protagonists, not because he is super third-dimensional or well written but because his personality aligns perfectly with the gameplay. Unlike many other Rockstar protagonists, his actions during gameplay rarely feel at odds with who he is.

I think after the success of GTA 3 and Vice City, starting with San Andreas almost every open world Rockstar game (especially GTA) suffered from scope and cohesion issues. With RDR1 and RDR2 handling it the best out of the bunch in my opinion. Because while they are very big and ambitious, at their core, they are wild west cowboy games and they always make sure the entire experience fulfills that fantasy.

Man, these PC ports were shoddy. And Vice City and San Andreas were even worse in that regard.

Playing these games at a lower resolution like 640x480, 800x600 or 1024x768 in a proper 4:3 aspect ratio, combined with SkyGFX on PC, is honestly the best way to experience the 3D GTA trilogy in my opinion. The low resolution textures and HUD were clearly designed with those older display settings in mind, so they tend to look off at modern high resolution displays. A lower resolution also helps hide many of the small visual imperfections that become much more noticeable when the games are rendered too sharply.

And while I know there are plenty of widescreen fix mods available for classic 2000s games, none of them will ever top the look and feel of the original intended 4:3 look, everything just looks too small when playing it at Widescreen.

- Made more professional and serious game reviews as far back as 2012 before the video essay genre became oversatured and filled to the brim with copycats.

- Primarily focused on game design with his reviews and how the different systems and mechanics in a game flowed or contradicted with each other, rather than just summarizing a game's story.

- No unfunny jokes, memes that will age like shit or corny interruptions.

- He put more emphasis on analysis rather than just summarizing a game.

- Despite how long some of his videos were, they were never too long neither. He understood brevity. He never repeated himself, his arguments are clean and he provides examples to prove his points and he never goes off on weird tangents that breaks the flow of his analysis.

- Retired from making YouTube videos is now a game designer.

- 14 years later and he is still unmatched in the game review/analysis space on the internet.

- The renovation mechanic is better utilized.

- The fleet system is significantly more refined and less tedious.

- Schooners can hold metal.

- There are fewer tailing missions.

- The Ship feel faster and more maneuverable.

- The River Valley is made up of interconnected locations, a design that could have worked well for Cuba in Black Flag.

- Islands are larger and less linear in structure.

- Hunter ships can board the player’s ship.

- Crafting requires two animals instead of one, preventing players from crafting almost everything by the midpoint of the game.